Greek Cuisine with Vefa Alexiadou

July 8, 2009

In most cultures, food is a big deal, and cooking authentic food from a cuisine that is not your own gives a direct connection to that culture. Experiencing a different culture so directly, and so easily, is one of my favorite things about cooking.

I’ve found, however, that cooking a few recipes here and there from a mish-mash of ethnicities, while delicious, doesn’t usually help me understand the basics of a country or region’s cuisine, and frequently prevents me from trying the dishes less commonly popular in the U.S. For example, my sole foray into Indian cooking is butter chicken. The recipe is awesome – but obviously there is more to Indian cuisine than that.

I always think to myself, “What does the average Indian person eat for lunch? Or for dinner on a busy Tuesday night?”

I want to delve deeper into other cuisines, which is why I’ve decided to begin with Greece. For all of July (and I may extend this into August), I will cook only Greek food from my new book (a wonderful birthday gift), Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou.

I spent three weeks in Greece a couple summers ago on an archaeological project eating a multi-course dinner each night at a bed and breakfast-ish place. The food was amazing and I can’t wait to try to replicate it here.

So far I’ve made two dishes, and my girlfriend has made one.  The one she made, orzo with vegetables, was good, but not amazing.  A simple and solid base recipe – it could easily be livened up.  The two I’ve made – stuffed peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini and spinach with rice – have been amazing.

I hope you find this as interesting as I do as I blog what I learn.

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